Detectives are investigating a possible loss of Sh50 billion at the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), in the latest scandal to hit the State corporation.
The money
was paid in premiums to NHIF by the National Treasury as capitation for
group life cover and last expense for civil servants, the Kenya Police
Service, National Youth Service and Kenya Prisons Service.
The
latest probe by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) comes
even as suspended chief executive Geoffrey Mwangi and finance director
Wilbert Kurgat were charged in court yesterday for attempting to
frustrate investigations into the irregular award of a Sh1.1 billion
tender for the provision of integrated revenue collection services.
MERCILESS PEOPLE
Investigators
stumbled upon a pile of documents at the NHIF related to premiums from
special medical schemes, also referred to as capitation, worth over
Sh12.7 billion annually since 2015 which, it is suspected, NHIF
management and some hospital administrators conspired to double-charge
the government in medical bills.
The
investigations are focusing on reports that NHIF management and
hospitals would generate false medical bills for civil servants, police,
NYS and prison staff who had never sought treatment.